I’ve seen pictures of capybaras and beavers, and they both seem kind of similar. They’re both large rodents that live near water. Do capybaras and beavers share a close evolutionary ancestor, or is this just a case of convergent evolution where unrelated animals develop similar traits due to living in similar environment?
Yes, capybaras and beavers are related! They are both classified as rodents, though not very closely related. Capybaras are actually more closely related to guinea pigs and rock cavies [5]. However, all rodents share a distant common ancestor, so beavers, capybaras, squirrels, and even mice are all distant cousins.
Both capybaras and beavers are semi-aquatic mammals and share a love for water. However, they live in different parts of the world. Capybaras are found in South America, while beavers are native to North America and Eurasia [3, 4].
